Recently, we’ve moved Tim’s 95 yr old mom into a Memory Care Home here in Waco, TX from her Assisted Care Unit in Houston. Tim’s sister, Kathy, and her husband, Chris, have also moved to Waco. During this transition, they all stayed with us for a few days. My mother in law stayed one night. You can imagine how traumatic and confusing it all was for her!
As her bedtime neared, we frantically searched for a night-light that I was sure I had put in a “safe place” somewhere I knew I’d remember!! Lol!
Finally, Tim and Chris made a mad dash to the Drug Store. They returned with two lights: a fancy one with bells and whistles, and a simple plug-in one with a steady beam of light.
This scenario reminds me of one of Jesus’ stories about the kind of light we should be in this ever-darkening world, a light shining on a stand or hill, allowinbg for others to see. Jesus assumes that those to whom he is speeking understand the purposeful function of a lit lamp. It is not lit for concealment under a basket. That would contradict its nature, its personality! Light gives insightful clarity where there is confusing ambiguity. A lit lamp under a basket does not stop being a light. Instead, its dimness simply fails to fulfill its purpose.
Jesus does not insist on a spectacle. He only asks for visibility. “Let your light shine,” not theatrically, not for show, but plainly.
In the presence of darkness, light does not argue with it. It just is and thus darkness retreats.
Are you a bells and whistles kind of night-light, or do you offer a steady, dependable aura?
You are light for all the world. A town that stands on a hill cannot be hidden. When a lamp is lit, it is not put under the meal-basket, but on the lamp-stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. And you, like the lamp, must shed light among your fellows, so that, when they see the good you do, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.